One of the difficulties facing the MetroAccess ridership is a lack of understanding on the part of a large proportion of the public of how MetroAccess actually works. It’s worse when bad information is published, such as an article we noticed today posted on Examiner.com.
We’d like to take this opportunity to try and clear up some of the articles mistakes.
Established to help physically-challenged persons with transportation in sections of DC and some suburban areas of both MD and VA
Not exactly.
MetroAccess is an ADA-mandated complimentary paratransit operation that is available to assist people with disabilities and the elderly with their transportation needs which can’t be fully met by the fixed-route system. It is required by law to exist, and is intended for those with any disability, not just those with physical disabilities, which severely impacts their ability to use the publicly offered transit services at a comparable level to that enjoyed by able-bodied riders.
WMATA presently grants commuter qualification if a personal need is expressed, so the process is rather simple.
Although semi-clarified further down the article, this really gives the impression that anyone whatsoever can claim MetroAccess usage just by saying they need it. Even before WMATA implements the “conditional eligibility” process currently under discussion, nothing could be further from the truth.
To obtain MetroAccess eligibility, a rider must submit paperwork from a medical professional regarding that rider’s disability. This is reviewed, and the rider is then invited to WMATA’s headquarters to for a functional evaluation. This functional evaluation tests the applicant against a specific set of criteria designed to gauge their ability to use fixed-route transit – to see if they meet the criteria to use the service.
If they do, then they’re considered eligible, and can use it.
This is not to say that there have not been problems with the eligibility process itself in recent years, not least of which has been a large backlog of applications.
The ADA mandates that if an application cannot be processed and a decision regarding eligibility be made within 21 days of an application being submitted, the transit provider (WMATA) must issue a presumptive eligibility decision, until such time as they can properly make a permanent decision.
This situation occurred a lot in recent years because the backlog was making it impossible for WMATA to render decisions within the 21-day window, however DC ParaTransit Info has been told that this situation is easing. Given that eligibility is not permanent, but instead requires recertification at 2 year intervals, we estimate that those given presumptive eligibility in the past are coming due to recertify in due course, at which time (assuming the eligibility process is on track finally) those who do not need the service will be declined eligibility.
And when this is established, a new customer becomes a part of the database and then given access to services such as the company’s door-to-door privileges, free and discounted rates and rides, scheduled time pickups, and seven days a week schedule, to name a few.
The door-to-door issue DC ParaTransit Info has covered in the past1, but we raise it in context here to object to it being called “privileges”. Door-to-door refers to a service-level policy where the drivers are permitted to offer to assist riders who need assistance, such as locating an entrance door for blind riders, or steadying an rider as they walk from their door to the transport.
Not all riders of MetroAccess need and receive such assistance – assistance which, again it bears mentioning as we have in the past, is ADA mandated. MetroAccess simply codified it into the service levels to enable drivers more flexibility in providing it. Describing it as “privilege” is not only inaccurate, but falls into the hype that somehow MetroAccess provides “privileges” and “perks” for disabled riders.
With regards to the “Free Ride” program, it was initiated by WMATA to try and encourage MetroAccess users to use the fixed-route systems whenever possible, which counter-intuitively saves WMATA circa-$30 per trip a rider takes. WMATA has saved literally millions of dollars by providing the Free Ride program, which is only available to those who are eligible for MetroAccess service.
We’re not sure why the author of the article felt it necessary to mention “scheduled time pick-ups” and “seven days a week schedule” in context as somehow being unique to MetroAccess. WMATA provides those across the entire system – MetroAccess runs during the same operating hours as MetroBus and MetroRail, seven days a week.
The “scheduled time pick-ups” may bear a little more expansion, however – a rider books their trip before 4:30pm the day before they intend to travel, and is given a 30 minute window their ride *might* arrive inside.
In addition, they aren’t guaranteed that the pick-up time they desire will be available, and through “negotiation” may be given pick-up windows that lie before or after the time they originally wanted to travel.
Of course, this is a totally different scenario from that enjoyed by fixed-route riders, who can check a bus timetable or use WMATA’s website to plan their trip in “real-time”, rather than having to book it 24 hours in advance (and, incidentally, not run the risk of being penalized if they change their mind and decide not to hop on a bus less than 2 hours before they planned on doing so, as MetroAccess riders do), but we’re pretty sure that “scheduled time pick ups” is the same sort of concept between the two even so.
There is, additionally, no guarantee MetroAccess riders will get to where they’re going at the time they need to be there – the Grand Tour phenomenon is still alive and well with MetroAccess, and despite the ADA mandating that trips from origin to destination should take no longer than half again the comparable trip time using fixed-route transit, trip times 2 or 3 times that of a comparable fixed-transit trip (and in extreme cases greater) are not unheard of
So this approach is what the department wants to change to better evaluate and manage their budget while still helping those who seek public support.
This last quote is the main reason we felt compelled to rebut this article. MetroAccess is Not “public support” – It’s simply the legally mandated comparable transportation system that grants the disabled community comparable levels of independence to that enjoyed by the able bodied ridership of Metro.
We are perfectly aware that over the years, especially during the bi-annual debates about cutting MetroAccess service, various entities have positioned MetroAccess as being privileges and perks, that MetroAccess riders are a drain on resources, and that the whole thing is simply an entitlement – “public support” if you will.
It isn’t.
MetroAccess is the means by which large numbers of people with disabilities in the Metro DC area are able to be independent, and to work and play like anyone else because they can actually go places just like anyone else. As a result, those people are less at risk of becoming burdens, and who in a great many cases are just as much tax-paying residents as anyone else.
Yes, we subsidize MetroAccess and fixed-route transit in the Metro DC area as much as able-bodied taxpayers do.
Articles like the one rebutted here run the risk of simply continuing to add to the misinformation about MetroAccess, and demonization of the disabled community which relies on it for our very independence, and we hope that our response helps the examiner.com article’s author, and our readers, to have a better understanding of the system and its riders for the future.
Sphere: Related Content
- You can read the debate on the topic of door-to-door vs curb-to-curb service on our site here, here, and here[back]
